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Cluster ballooning is an uncommon form of ballooning in which a single balloonist is attached by a harness to a cluster of relatively small helium-inflated rubber balloons. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (900 × 1200 pixel, file size: 367 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photo by user omnibus on www. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (900 × 1200 pixel, file size: 367 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photo by user omnibus on www. ...
Balloons are often used or given on special occasions, like cards or flowers. ...
General Name, Symbol, Number helium, He, 2 Chemical series noble gases Group, Period, Block 18, 1, s Appearance colorless Standard atomic weight 4. ...
Unlike traditional hot-air balloons, which possess vents for easy altitude control, cluster balloons rise uncontrollably, expanding as they go. Cluster balloonists must periodically cut balloons loose to maintain altitude and descend. Bottled water is a common ballast, and can be partially emptied to slow descent. Hot air balloons are the oldest successful human flight technology, dating back to the Montgolfier brothers invention in Annonay, France in 1783. ...
Ballast is used in sailboats to provide moment to resist the lateral forces on the sail. ...
One notable cluster balloonist is Larry Walters, who, in 1982, without any prior ballooning experience, attached 42 weather balloons to a piece of patio furniture and lifted off. Having intended to rise a few hundred feet, he soared nearly three miles into the air. Though cluster ballooning predates Walters, his bizarre feat helped to raise the sport's public profile. Today, one of the most prominent cluster balloonists is John Ninomiya, whose flights have been featured on The Science Channel, The History Channel, TechTV, TLC, and MTV. Lawrence Richard Walters, nicknamed Lawnchair Larry or the Lawn Chair Pilot, (April 19, 1949 – October 6, 1993) was an American adventurer. ...
Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ...
Rawinsonde weather balloon just after launch. ...
The Science Channel is a television channel spin-off from the Discovery Channel, which features only science-related television shows. ...
For the Canadian equivalent of this channel, see History Television. ...
TechTV is also the name of a closed-circuit television network based in Ruston, Louisiana TechTV (May 11, 1998 – May 28, 2004) was a 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Francisco, California featuring news and shows about computers, technology, and the Internet. ...
TLC Network is a cable TV network in the US that carries a variety of informational and reality-based programming. ...
MTV (Music Television) is an American cable television network based in New York City. ...
The Guinness world record for the highest altitude attained cluster ballooning is held by Ian Ashpole, who on October 28, 2001, over Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, UK using 600 toy balloons reached a height of just over 11,000 feet (3,350 meters). However, Larry Walters reached 16,000 feet (almost 4900 m) in 1982 using patio furniture. His record is not recognized because he did not carry a proper altimeter. [1] Lawrence Richard Walters, nicknamed Lawnchair Larry or the Lawn Chair Pilot, (April 19, 1949 – October 6, 1993) was an American adventurer. ...
Other applications
Smaller balloon clusters consisting of several toy balloons are sometimes used for creating flying light effects by using them as carrier for lightsticks or other small light sources. They can be also used for other amateur scientific experiments, such as making aerial photographs or atmospheric measurements. The advantage of small cluster balloons versus bigger balloons is that toy balloons, with or without helium filling, are more readily available than bigger balloons. Three types of lightsticks in several colours A lightstick, also called a glowstick, is a transparent plastic tube which contains chemical fluids held apart in two compartments. ...
In fiction The movie The Red Balloon, made in France in 1956, ends with a simulated cluster balloon ride as a young boy, having lost his magical red balloon to a gang of vandals, then finds all the other balloons in Paris coming to him. The Red Balloon (Fr. ...
External links - John Ninomiya's cluster ballooning site
- Video of world record flight by Ian Ashpole (RealVideo format)
- CBS News video of John Ninomiya's flight in Georgia in 2007
- Official Kent Couch Cluster Ballooning Website
RealVideo is a proprietary video format developed by RealNetworks. ...
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